Southeastern New Mexico does not have quite as strong a tradition of traditional New Mexican cuisine as the northern part of the state, but it can still be found in Roswell and other cities in the region. Although the chile is usually not as spicy as in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe region, and such traditional items as pozole and blue corn tortillas are usually not found in southeastern New Mexico, the food is still more New Mexican than Tex-Mex.

El Toro Bravo is a "southern New Mexico" style restaurant located in the center of Roswell (across the street from the U.F.O. museum, which by the way I find to be quite interesting). A good variety of traditional New Mexican style dishes is served. Although I was skeptical that the food in Roswell would be "authentic" enough, my complaints with this restaurant turned out to be small ones-- the salsa was not hot enough, the stuffed sopaipillas used ground beef instead of chunks (actually they are better without meat), and there were no whole beans (only refried). Red and green chile was served, and otherwise I thought the food was as it should be.

The Stuffed Sopaipilla was was a good representation of this New Mexico style dish. The plate came with meat inside, a garnish of lettuce, and a large sopaipilla on the outside that served as a sweet version of burrito. This is one of my favorite New Mexican style dishes and I was not disappointed by the one at El Toro Bravo.

El Toro Bravo was not as spicy as I might have expected, but otherwise met my needs for a New Mexican style meal.